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Battle of the Department of Mysteries
The Battle Of The Ministry Of Magic, also known as The Battle Of The Department Of Mysteries was the very first official major conflict of the Second Wizarding War. It took place on 18 June, 1996, after the evil Dark Wizard Lord Voldemort secretly lured his archenemy Harry Potter and five of his fellow Dumbledore's Army members to the Department of Mysteries inside the British Ministry Of Magic in London, England, U.K.G.B.; in an effort to obtain the prophecy concerning his futuristic defeat. Once at the Ministry, the six D.A. members were cornered by at least a dozen Death Eaters, whom they managed to successfully fend off until the Order of the Phoenix came to their rescue. In the resulting skirmish, the prophecy was accidentally destroyed, Voldemort was personally seen by the Minister for Magic himself, eleven of the Death Eaters were captured, and Sirius Black was killed by his deranged-psychotic cousin Bellatrix Lestrange. The battle resulted in Voldemort's return being made public, the Ministry of Magic finally taking proper action against his rising power, and the start of open warfare. History Background information The prophecy At the height of the First Wizarding War, which lasted for eleven years (from 1970 to 1981), Sybill Trelawney, the Divination teacher at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft And Wizardry, made a real prophecy predicting the coming of the only person who could truly defeat and destroy Lord Voldemort, due to this particular wizard having strength and power that would not only equal and surpass those of the Dark Lord; but those of Albus Dumbledore himself. This prophecy was in turn heard in its entirety by Albus Dumbledore, while the latter was interviewing Professor Trewlaney in Hogsmeade, and secretly in part by Severus Snape, at the time a loyal high-ranking Death Eater, who immediately reported what he heard to Voldemort. The Dark Lord then came to believe that the prophecy referred to Harry Potter, due to his status as a half-blood like Voldemort; rather than Neville Longbottom; who was a pure-blood. Both boys were born at the end of July of 1980, the timeline referenced in the prophecy; and thus, Voldemort immediately began seeking out the location of Harry's family. The Potters had gone into hiding at the urgent request of Professor Dumbledore, when Snape, who had been secretly in love with Harry's mother since childhood, warned Dumbledore of the approaching danger and secretly defected from the Death Eaters to the Order of the Phoenix. However, on Hallowe'en, October 31, 1981, their location in Godric's Hollow, England was secretly revealed to the Dark Lord by the family's Secret-Keeper Peter Pettigrew, who betrayed them and joined the Death Eaters; and after killing Harry's parents, James Potter and Lily Potter; Voldemort attempted to kill the infant Harry, but the Killing Curse rebounded and his body was destroyed and his power was broken. When Voldemort returned to power years later in 1995, and failed to kill Harry for the second time during the Little Hangleton Incident at the conclusion of the Triwizard Tournament, because of Priori Incantatem on this particular occasion, he became determined to hear the full prophecy, believing it to contain the secret of destroying Harry Potter, and was informed by Lucius Malfoy that a record of it was kept in the Hall Of Prophecies, inside the Department of Mysteries at the British Ministry of Magic. Attempts at theft In January of 1996, there was a mass breakout of several top-security Death Eaters from Azkaban, after the Dementors secretly defected to Voldemort's side. Several long-imprisoned Death Eaters — including the Lestrange Family [Bellatrix Lestrange, Rodolphus Lestrange, and Rabastan Lestrange], Augustus Rookwood, Travers, and Mulciber, among others — were free to join their master again. These were considered to be some of the most dangerous and highly guarded convicts due to their past crimes being almost legendary. Lord Voldemort had very little trouble arranging this, as many of the Dementors were happy to oblige to his dark whims and had grown tired of the laws put in place by the wizarding World. The Ministry of Magic, however, refused to believe that Voldemort had returned, out of paranoid fear of causing public hysteria, and instead blamed the breakout on Sirius Black. Because the Ministry did not believe that Voldemort had returned and because he now had many of his greatest servants ready to do his bidding, Voldemort did not even attempt to retrieve the prophecy he sought himself, as he considered such a thing to be beneath him and being seen by the wizarding community would likely ruin his plans and was not an option. The Death Eaters then made a few secret attempts at stealing the prophecy in question, but all the attempts ended in failure. Lucius Malfoy secretly managed to place Broderick Bode, an Unspeakable who worked in the Department of Mysteries, under the Imperius Curse to force him to steal the prophecy. However, the protection charm placed on the items in the Hall of Prophecies only allows those who are mentioned in each prophecy to access them. Voldemort then punished Tom Avery with the Cruciatus Curse for assuring the Dark Lord that the plan would have worked. Bode was afflicted with a mind-confusing curse and admitted to St Mungo's Hospital in Diagon Alley. When word of Bode's improvement somehow reached the Death Eaters, they sent an anonymous potted cutting of Devil's Snare to Bode, to prevent the plot from being revealed, and it strangled him to death in his hospital bed. Earlier, Sturgis Podmore, a high-ranking Ministry Official, had also been placed under the Imperius Curse by Corban Yaxley to attempt the same, but was arrested trying to break into the Department of Mysteries. Voldemort also sent his pet snake, Nagini, to the Department of Mysteries after working hours, in order to scout any Order Of The Phoenix defences possibly surrounding the prophecy. This resulted in the snake attacking and wounding Arthur Weasley, who was secretly guarding the prophecy that night on orders from Albus Dumbledore. Thus, Voldemort tried a different tactic. Utilising his mental connection to Harry Potter, the only person other than Voldemort himself, who could access the prophecy. Harry had failed to learn Occlumency from Professor Snape in their private lessons at Hogwarts, due to both his inability to master his feelings and Snape's personal animosity towards him. Voldemort then planted a false vision in Harry's mind while he was taking his O.W.L. exams at school; that suggested his godfather (Sirius Black) was being personally tortured by Lord Voldemort in the Hall of Prophecies at the Department of Mysteries. Voldemort predicted that Harry would immediately race to the Ministry to save him, as he knew that Harry would be compelled by nature to help the people closest to him, particularly if said person was the only family left to him. Dumbledore’s Army Harry then told his best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, and Sirius' daughter, Violet Willis, of his vision, intending to indeed immediately leave Hogwarts to save Sirius. Hermione, suspecting foul play from Voldemort, managed to convince him into first trying to see if Sirius was at 12 Grimmauld Place in London, England; which was also Sirius's home and the Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. With the help of Ginny Weasley, Cassie Black and Luna Lovegood, they sneaked into the office of Headmistress Dolores Umbridge so that Harry could contact Sirius by Floo Powder. Just after Kreacher The House Elf informed Harry that Sirius was not there — having been prompted to secretly mislead Harry by Narcissa, who was a Black family relative by birth and treated the attention-starved house-elf much more kindly than Sirius ever did — Professor Umbridge arrived with her Inquisitorial Squad. Umbridge, believing Harry to have been communicating with Albus Dumbledore, attempted to forcibly interrogate Harry, demanding that Professor Snape provide her with samples of the Veritaserum Potion. However, he told her he had none left, and although he pretended not to have any idea what Harry was talking about when he shouted that the "enemy" had "Padfoot", Snape secretly went to check that Sirius was still at the Order Headquarters. When Snape saw that Sirius was in fact there, he had Sirius immediately alert members of the Order to the situation. Once Snape was gone, Umbridge threatened to use the Cruciatus Curse on Harry to force him to talk. This prompted Hermione to lie, making up a story about Dumbledore creating a secret weapon to use against the Ministry and successfully tricking Umbridge into going alone into the Forbidden Forest with her and Harry. They were then confronted by a horde of Centaurs, and Umbridge insulted and attacked them, using Incarcerous. With some assistance from Grawp, Umbridge was captured by the Centaurs, and Harry and Hermione escaped the forest and headed back to the castle. In the meantime, Ron, Ginny, Violet, Cassie, Luna, and Neville Longbottom had escaped and incapacitated the Inquisitorial Squad. They had used a combination of Stunning Spells, Disarming Charms, and a Bat-Bogey Hex, curtesy of Ginny. Hermione and Harry were also covered in blood after the fracas in the Forbidden Forest, which lured Thestrals to the group. Luna then suggested that the six members of Dumbledore's Army ride them to the Ministry of Magic, which was secretly located underneath London, England to try to rescue Sirius Black. The Battle The Department of Mysteries The group then flew to the Ministry, where they then descended to Level 9 and down the corridor to the Department of Mysteries, also finding the entire Ministry empty, as it is well after working hours. They next found themselves in the Entrance Room, with 12 identical black, handle-less doors. When each door behind them closed, the walls spun, and the doors returned to different places. The eight D.A. members went through one, which turned out to be the Brain Room and went back to the Entrance Room to try another, which turned out to be the Death Chamber. The next door they tried wouldn't open by any means of enchantment, but the next room, the Time Chamber, contained the glittering lights from some of Harry's dreams. Once in this room, they took another door to the Hall of Prophecies, took a left turn, and went to the far side of the Hall; but upon reaching the empty and quiet-dark back wall, Sirius was nowhere to be found. In the corner where Sirius and Voldemort were supposed to be, Harry spots an orb with his and the Dark Lord’s names inscribed on it. Against Hermione's advice not to touch it, he picks it up; and this immediately prompts twelve Death Eaters — Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, Bellatrix Lestrange, Antonin Dolohov, Avery, Walden Macnair, Crabbe Snr, Goyle Snr, Norman Nott, Augustus Rookwood, Jugson, Mulciber, and group leader Lucius Malfoy — to reveal themselves from the shadows where Lucius then demands that Harry give him the prophecy. Bellatrix tries to intimidate Violet Willis by revealing to everyone that Sirius is her father, and that she is dating Draco Malfoy. In the Hall of Prophecy Harry then attempts to buy time by fully mocking Voldemort in front of his Death Eaters, which infuriates Bellatrix to the point where she fires a Stunning Spell at Harry, which Lucius deflects into a nearby shelf, shattering two prophecies, which turn into wraiths and recite the prophecies which forever remain unheard. Harry still refuses to hand over the prophecy, so Lucius then begins to tease him that the prophecy holds the answer to his scar, why Voldemort wishes to kill him, and the cause of the Second Wizarding War. Just then, on Harry’s signal, the eight D.A. members all use the Reductor Curse to smash the shelves of prophecies, distracting the Death Eaters so that they could flee. As they ran, Nott grabbed Harry’s arm, but was hit by a Stunning Spell from Hermione and subsequently injured by the collapsing shelves. The eight members were than separated. Harry, Violet, Cassie, and Neville fled into the Time Chamber pursued by Crabbe Snr and Rabastan and locked the door behind them, but then realised they have been separated from the other four. Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Luna had taken another path and Harry, Violet Cassie, and Neville did not know where they were. Pursuit in the Time, Brain, and Space chambers In the Time Chamber, Harry, Neville, Violet, and Cassie hid just as Crabbe Snr and Rabastan forced their way in. As they started to search for the three, Harry hit Crabbe Snr in the head with a Stunning spell and rendered him unconscious. Harry then tackled Rabastan when he attempted to use the Killing Curse on Cassie. Neville accidentally disarmed both Rabastan and Harry, but before Rabastan could retrieve his wand, Violet hit him with Stupefy. ''He was knocked into a bell jar that made his head turn into that of a baby, and then back into an adult, continuously ageing and de-ageing. The four then ran into an office on the right side of the Time Chamber, where they were instantly struck with Impediment Jinxes by Antonin Dolohov and Jugson, separating the trio. Cassie then instantly used a Silencing Charm on Dolohov to prevent him from alerting the other Death Eaters to their location, and Harry placed Jugson in a Full Body-Bind Curse. Dolohov, however, then flicked his wand; which created a purple flame-like whip that instantly struck Cassie across the chest, which incapacitated her. He also broke Neville’s wand, kicked him in the nose, and wordlessly threatened Harry, but was distracted by baby-headed Rabastan, giving Harry the chance to use ''Petrificus Totalus ''on him too. Neville then took Cassie's wand and carried her as he, Violet, and Harry met up with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Luna in the Brain Room. Ron had been hit by a curse that made him highly inebriated and Ginny’s ankle was sprained, leaving her pale and in shock. They had managed to get away from the Death Eaters chasing them because Luna used the Reductor Curse on a model of the Planet Pluto in the Space Chamber to separate their pursuers. While the students regrouped, the Death Eaters did as well, bringing many of their number out of incapacitating spells. The group was then discovered by some of the Death Eaters, including Bellatrix Lestrange, in the circular Entrance Room with the many doors. They burst back into the Brain Room and Harry, Violet, and Luna attempted to seal the doors but the Death Eaters still managed to get in when Bellatrix hit one of the doors with a Blasting Curse. Luna was then hit by an Impediment Jinx from Goyle Snr, sending her into the air before hitting a desk and falling to the floor, out for the count; and Ron, in his confused state, summoned a brain from the tank and was injured by it as it attempted to strangle him with tentacles. Harry then used a Severing Charm to try and free Ron from the attacking brain, and at the same moment Ginny took a Stunning Spell to the face from Mulciber, and was knocked unconscious. In a desperate attempt to draw the Death Eaters away from his injured friends, Harry sprinted deep into the Death Chamber, where he descended down to the centre of the chamber, next to it's magical archway; where he was ultimately cornered by the rest of the Death Eaters. When Violet arrived to help, Bellatrix briefly and easily used the Cruciatus Curse on her in an attempt to coerce Harry into handing over the prophecy, warning Potter that Willis would slowly be tortured to death if he refused them any longer. Harry, who did not think he had any other choice, decided to give in to their demands. The Death Chamber Standoff Just as Harry was about to hand the prophecy over to Lucius, a door opposite to the Death Eaters suddenly flew open; and Sirius Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin, Willow Black, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Alastor Moody of the Order of the Phoenix arrived, and a huge fight instantly ensued. Tonks fired a formidable Stunning Spell at Malfoy, giving Harry and Violet enough time to escape unseen, but Harry was then grabbed from behind by Walden Macnair and nearly choked. Violet then jabbed her wand hard into the eyehole of the Death Eater's mask, making him release Harry with a "howl of pain". Harry then angrily hit Macnair with ''Stupefy, only to be cornered by Dolohov, who had managed to hit Moody with an Impediment Jinx to the head, rendering him temporarily unconsious. Dolohov then attempted to hit Violet with the Dancing Feet Spell and attempted to use the same dangerous unamed curse on Harry that he previously used on Cassie, though the curses's effects was prevented by Harry’s Shield Charms. Before Dolohov could attack again, Sirius slammed into him and the two began to duel. Harry then hit Dolohov from behind with another Full Body-Bind Curse and Sirius ran off to duel Bellatrix, who had just easily blasted Tonks unconscious, sending her tumbling down the chamber's steps. In the meantime, Kingsley was duelling both Rookwood and Rodolphus and Lupin was fighting Goyle Snr. Willow was fighting Malfoy, who knocked her over with Stupefy. Once again, Harry and Violet tried to escape, but were stopped by Malfoy. Harry then passed Violet the prophecy and then used a powerful Impediment Jinx to blast Malfoy aside. Before Lucius could attack again, Lupin jumped between them and told Harry and Neville to get the other D.A. members and leave. Before they could do this however, Lucius grabbed Violet's throat and in order to distract him and save herself, she threw the prophecy on the ground, shattering it. At that same exact moment, Albus Dumbledore arrived through the same door the Order members had come through, his wand aloft and utter fury in every line of his face. Speeding past Harry and Violet, Dumbledore instead charged right into the middle of the fray, as the first Death Eaters suddenly realised he was there. There was a roar of shock, and the Death Eaters instantly attempted to flee out of utter fear of duelling him. Nott fled up the side of the chamber in such terror, but Dumbledore quickly intercepted him with a simple Blocking Spell. Only Sirius and Bellatrix were totally oblivious to Dumbledore's arrival, as both were still heavily duelling below next to the chamber archway; with Sirius easily ducking and blocking her spells; all the while taunting her failure to hit him with them. But, at that precise moment Bellatrix fired another spell at Sirius, hitting him directly in the chest and causing his body to fall into the archway's Veil that separates the world of the living from that of the dead. Lupin then prevented Harry from jumping into the Veil after Sirius by grabbing him in a tight hug, telling him that his godfather was dead and that nothing could be done. Violet was being held back by Tonks, but immediately escaped from her grip and ran after Bellatrix. Willow was devastated on her knees, being shielded by Kingsley. Bellatrix, yelling triumphantly, then began running up the Chamber steps to escape and Dumbledore immediately turned around and fired a spell at her, but she blocked it. Violet, maddened with grief and anger at her father's death, heavily pursued Bellatrix and Violet out of the Department of Mysteries and up to the Ministry's Main Atrium, intending to kill her to avenge Sirius. She then turned to face her, forcing her to take cover behind the Fountain of Magical Brethren. Filled with hatred at her baby-like taunting, Violet hit her with the Cruciatus Curse, feeling no remorse. Though the curse knocked Bellatrix off balance, Violet intended to kill Bellatrix if not for the arriving of Voldemort and Harry which distracted Violet. In a brief moment of distraction Bellatrix charged at Violet and now held the power over her. Duel in the Ministry Atrium Furious at the destruction of the prophecy, Voldemort ignored Bellatrix's pleas for forgiveness, even as she desperately tried to warn him that Dumbledore was inside the Ministry too; and Voldemort then attempted to murder Harry with the Killing Curse. Harry did not even try to defend himself but before the curse could hit him the headless statue of the wizard from the Fountain of Magical Brethren leapt from its plinth and deflected the curse off its chest. Dumbledore had secretly arrived on the scene and had transfigured the statue to protect Harry. Voldemort, shocked and fearful, then shot a Killing Curse at Dumbledore, who instantly disapparated and re-appeared behind Voldemort; proceeding to direct his wand at the fountain's other statues, which leapt to do the legendary wizard's bidding as well. Bellatrix, with Violet at wandpoint, used the Floo Network to get herself and Violet out of the battle. Throughout the battle, it became quickly obvious that Dumbledore was the more powerful and skilled out of them, heavily dominating the fight, despite outlining his peaceful intentions while Voldemort, in a heated rage, was completely unable to come even close to penetrate Dumbledore's defences, all the while he was forced to immediately go all-out to simply defend from Albus's own stream of attacks. After a brief exchange of displeasantries, Voldemort fired another Killing Curse at Dumbledore, which hit the security desk next to the fountain, causing it to "burst into flames". Dumbledore retaliated with an unknown spell of such power and force that Voldemort was forced to conjure a shining silver magical shield out of thin air to deflect it. Whatever the spell was, it caused a gong-like denture in the shield, but was otherwise not intended to be lethal, something which Voldemort called Dumbledore out on before resuming the duel with yet another Killing Curse. This was taken by the centaur statue, shattering it into a hundred pieces, while Dumbledore conjured a rope of fire that binded the Dark Lord "shield and all" , forcing him to transfigure it into a serpent which released him and turned on Dumbledore while he tried to take Dumbledore from behind with a yet another Killing Curse. However, Fawkes The Phoenix appeared out of nowhere, and swallowed Voldemort's curse, which had no actual permanent effect on Fawkes as he was a Phoenix and could be reborn no matter how many times he died, before Dumbledore then swiftly vanished the snake, turning it into mere black smoke with a casual flick of his wand; and then manipulated the water in the fountain to encase Voldemort, from which Voldemort could not break himself out from and was forced to disapparate again, finally realising he was fighting a losing battle from the beginning. In a last-ditch effort to have Harry killed, Voldemort then briefly turned himself invisible and secretly possessed Harry, hoping that Dumbledore would actually sacrifice the teenager in an attempt to kill the Dark Lord. However, Dumbledore did not take the bait at all and as Harry dwelt on his grief for his late godfather, the power of his love for not only Sirius; but for Dumbledore and his friends caused Voldemort serious pain, forcing him to release Harry instantly. As Dumbledore tended to Harry, Voldemort, knowing fully well he was greatly outmatched at long last, and escaped by disapparating away but only after he was visibly seen by a horde of Ministry officials that had just arrived, including Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge. Aftermath Of the twelve Death Eaters who broke into the Department of Mysteries, all of them but Bellatrix Lestrange were captured and sent to Azkaban. They failed in their aim to seize the prophecy made about Harry Potter and Voldemort, but Dumbledore would subsequently tell Harry of its content and importance shortly after the battle, during which Dumbledore also made sure that Harry and his friends all safely returned to Hogwarts, via a Ministry portkey. The Order of the Phoenix also suffered the loss of Sirius Black as well as several injuries. Alastor Moody, Nymphadora Tonks, Hermione Granger, Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood, Cassie Black, Neville Longbottom, and Ginny Weasley were all injured, but were quickly nursed back to full health by Hogwarts nurse Poppy Pomfrey. Neville got a new wand, courtesy of his grandmother Augusta Longbottom. Ron Weasley had welts for some time from the brain that grabbed him, but they faded with time and treatment. Hermione Granger had to take ten potions for a whole day to treat the effects of the evil curse she was struck with, which might have been fatal had Antonin Dolohov been able to actually speak it aloud, but made a full recovery nonetheless. Violet was nowhere to be found, and was presumed dead. Harry felt great grief and guilt over the death of his godfather, and his best friend, blaming himself, but Ron and Hermione were there when he needed them to help him come to terms with Sirius's death. It was mentioned that Ron was there to comfort him in his period of mourning more than anyone else. He was also angry at Severus Snape for what he perceived as only belatedly assisting Harry and the Order, and at Dumbledore for not telling him about the prophecy ahead of time. He was also upset to learn that he must be the one to kill Voldemort. After the battle, the Ministry of Magic was forced to admit to the public that Dumbledore and Harry had been right all along, and that Voldemort had indeed returned. Dolores Umbridge was removed from Hogwarts and Dumbledore was reinstated as Headmaster, as well as in all his other previous positions. The ineffectual Cornelius Fudge was soon sacked as Minister Of Magic, and was quickly replaced by the more proactive Rufus Scrimgeour, previously Head of the Auror Office at the Ministry. This battle also marked the beginning of open warfare in the Wizarding World. Voldemort was enraged by the loss of the prophecy, and focused much of his wrath on Lucius Malfoy and his entire family. As punishment, Voldemort selected Lucius's son Draco Malfoy as his newest Death Eater and secretly tasked him with assassinating Dumbledore during his sixth year at Hogwarts. Draco's mother Narcissa Malfoy was despondent, knowing full well that Voldemort expected Draco to fail, and be killed in punishment for his failure. To hurt Draco Malfoy, he made the presumed dead, Violet Willis, Draco's girlfriend, his new Potioneer and thereby a Death Eater against her will. Although Lucius was later broken out of Azkaban, he became a prisoner in his own home, which Voldemort took for use as his Headquarters, and further humiliated Lucius by "borrowing" his wand, which was later destroyed in another failed attempt to kill Harry, and never replaced.